by TChris

One day after a "massive" anti-war protest in Washington (among other places), the pro-war voices had their chance to be heard. They could barely muster a whisper, as about 400 people -- "far fewer than organizers had expected" -- gathered today on the National Mall.

So here's the unofficial count of those who rallied in Washington this weekend:

Pro-war: 400.

Anti-war: 100,000.

by TChris

The first legal challenge to a school district's plan to teach intelligent design will go to trial on Monday in Harrisburg, PA. Proponents of the plan defend the teaching of a religious belief as "free speech." But science teachers aren't free to speak about their religious beliefs in a public school; their free speech rights are subordinate to their duty as government employees to respect the separation between government and religion.

Proponents also argue that they're simply exposing students to alternative views about the origins of life.

William Arkin writes in the Washington Post that the Armed Services Committee may be using Donald Rumsfeld to spur the end of the Posse Comitatus Act - under the cover of Hurricane Katrina. This would make it easier for Bush to impose martial law.

First off, Arkin says, it's based upon a faulty premise.

Nothing in law prevents the President from employing the military in a Katrina-like emergency if state and local government really breaks down. In fact, the 130-year-old Posse Comitatus Act more symbolizes the military's subordination to civil authority than it actually restricts what the military can do.

by Last Night in Little Rock

Newsweek's Michael Isikoff catches Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) in a lie about a junket, arranged by recently arrested Senior OMB Official David Safavian, also reported on Raw Story:

Newsweek's Michael Isikoff catches powerful Ohio congressman Bob Ney (R-OH) in another lie about a trip he took with recently arrested ex-White House official David Safavian. The deal? He said he made the trip to speak to Scottish parliamentarians. The trouble? There's no record of him ever giving a speech--and the parliament wasn't even in session.

RAW STORY revealed another apparent lie the congressman made about who paid for the trip earlier in the week: an email from Safavian indicates that Ney knew that fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff was footing the bill for the junket.

by Last Night in Little Rock

Time tonight poses the interesting question, the title of its lead online story: "How Many More Mike Browns Are Out There?"

....then came Michael Brown. When President Bush's former point man on disasters was discovered to have more expertise about the rules of Arabian horse competition than about the management of a catastrophe, it was a reminder that the competence of government officials who are not household names can have a life or death impact. The Brown debacle has raised pointed questions about whether political connections, not qualifications, have helped an unusually high number of Bush appointees land vitally important jobs in the Federal Government.

by Last Night in Little Rock

Everyone is well aware of President Bush's fundraising capabilities when it is for buying access to or owning government, or some nitwit rich horse judger getting a crucial job at the Federal Emergency Mismanagement Agency of the Department of Homeland Insecurity.

President Bush tried to raise private funds for the rebuilding of Iraq, and put out a plea to the "public." According to the UK Independent, he raised $600.

The latest study on violent crime by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) has just been released. Violent crime is at the lowest level since the agency began keeping records 32 years ago.

The LA Times has more. The Justice Policy Institute (press relase via e-mail) says:

We should use the opportunity presented by this good news to reject the pandering of the past, and overzealous spending on incarceration and law enforcement and instead begin investing in community-based policing and local organizations that succeed in increasing public safety," said Jason Ziedenberg, Executive Director of the Justice Policy Institute. "Rather than promote the 'crime crisis of the week,' we need to consider what states and localities are doing to reduce incarceration, reduce crime and build communities."

Bump and Update: (TL):

100,000 joined the protest.

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Original Post by TChris

In Europe:

A London demonstration against the war in Iraq drew at least 10,000 people today as similar protests were planned in European capitals including Paris, Rome, Madrid and Oslo ....

In the United States:

Lynndie England's former lover, Abu Ghraib ringleader Charles Graner, testified for her at her trial this week. He told the court this and this was his idea. Graner was a bad apple well before being placed as a prison guard at Abu Ghraib. Now a prisoner himself, serving a ten year sentence for prisoner abuse, he's still causing trouble:

Military officials say he has caused trouble even since the start of his 10 years prison sentence, refusing, for example, to shave in accordance with military prison regulations and earning himself solitary confinement. A spokesman for the prosecution said Graner was forcibly shaved before his testimony in which he defended the leash and pyramid stacking episodes as legitimate inmate control techniques.

Graner and England are no longer a couple. He has since married former Abu Ghraib guard Megan Ambuhl who also was embroiled and convicted in the prisoner abuse scandal. She was not sentenced to jail.

The military jury will decide Lynndie England's fate next week.

The Associated Press has obtained documents showing that the Navy secretly contracted for Gulfstream jets to fly detainees to other countries for interrogation. This means that the military, not just the CIA was involved in the secret rendition process:

A branch of the U.S. Navy secretly contracted a 33-plane fleet that included two Gulfstream jets reportedly used to fly terror suspects to countries known to practice torture, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The Navy issued classified contracts to ten U.S. companies, including two that flew detainees to Egypt and other places:

Thousands of anti-war protesters en route to D.C. from major Northeast cities were delayed for hours due to an Amtrak power failure.

In a hitch for some coming to the protest, 13 Amtrak trains running between New York and Washington were delayed for up to three hours Saturday morning for repair of overhead electrical lines. Protest organizers said that held up thousands coming to the rally.

Organizers delayed the start of the march, originally planned to begin at 12:30 p.m., to wait for protesters arriving on the Amtrak trains. There were other reports of Metro delays in northern Virginia on the Blue and Yellow lines.

Coincidence?

by TChris

A new report by Human Rights Watch, relying on interviews with members of the 82nd Airborne, concludes that "Army troops subjected Iraqi detainees to severe beatings and other torture at a base in central Iraq from 2003 through 2004, often under orders or with the approval of superior officers."

Three U.S. army personnel—two sergeants and a captain—describe routine, severe beatings of prisoners and other cruel and inhumane treatment. In one incident, a soldier is alleged to have broken a detainee’s leg with a baseball bat. Detainees were also forced to hold five-gallon jugs of water with their arms outstretched and perform other acts until they passed out. Soldiers also applied chemical substances to detainees’ skin and eyes, and subjected detainees to forced stress positions, sleep deprivation, and extremes of hot and cold.

Mistreatment was ordered by Military Intelligence personnel as an interrogation tactic, but was also used to "relieve stress," according to the soldiers.